


Z-Nation Imagines Collection

by lssyli0306



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Other, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-03-06 16:53:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18855142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lssyli0306/pseuds/lssyli0306
Summary: This is a collection of my Z-Nation fanfiction that I originally posted on Tumblr, from the profile znationfanfiction.  Please do not copy or steal any of these, as I have worked very hard on all of them.  I do not own any of the characters from Z-Nation, only my own original characters.





	1. Doc

We walked amongst the rows of abandoned cars on the highway, scavenging for anything useful we could get our hands on. The rest of the group walked on ahead, picking around the other rusted skeletons of vehicles. Doc stooped through the passenger side of an old Trans Am, grabbing up a mostly empty package of cigarettes and a very crushed granola bar, still in its packaging.

"Score," I nodded at him, throwing in a sly smile.

He shrugged, pocketing the treasures, and we made our way to the next vehicle.

"God," I huffed, "what I wouldn't do for a whole pack of gum...unmelted gum," I amended.

Doc nodded, white beard swaying in the slight breeze that managed to reach us around the cars. "Remember fresh breath?"

I sighed wistfully, longing for the thing that used to be my addiction before it all went to hell in an undead handbasket. I used to chew so much gum my jaw would hurt and pop for days.

Doc fiddled with his crowbar and reached up to wipe some sweat from his brow. "Man, I'd kill for some z-weed right about now. If you find any of that, let me know."

I breathed out a laugh, then grabbed a handle of the dirty truck next to me and gave it a hard yank. It stuck a bit, then swung open to reveal a putrid-smelling Z. The smell of rot and undeath surrounded me in a noxious cloud as the creature growled and snarled, latching onto my shirt with its bony fingers. My hands came up to grip its neck and chest, keeping it from taking a nice juicy chunk out of my face. I stumbled back, trying to throw the creature off of me, but it clung on like an oversized tick. Swinging around rapidly, I started to lose my distance between its teeth and my flesh by inches at a time.

"Doc!," I shouted, panting with the effort of holding back the Z. My arms started to shake and I had just lost my grip, a bloody and crusty face lurching toward my own, when I was spattered with blood.

Doc yanked the end of his crowbar back out and I shoved the Z to the ground, disgusted by how close that was.

"Thanks, Doc." My hands trembled from the adrenaline that spiked through me. "Damn, remember when things died and, ya know, stayed dead?"

He grinned, eyes crinkling, before delving into the now-empty truck. His dirty chucks kicked for a second as he reached for something on the driver's side.

"Well lookie here," he sounded tickled, then emerged with a half-pack of mint gum. He handed the warm package to me. "For your troubles. It's a little melted, but...," he shrugged.

"You are just the sweetest. You know that?" I smiled broadly, then handed him a slightly melted stick. "For my hero. It's not z-weed, but you can't put a price on fresh breath."

He took the gum, smiling gratefully, before slinging an arm around my shoulders as we hustled forward to catch up with the rest of the group.


	2. Longshot

I take a deep breath in, locking onto my target through my scope. A deer grazes about 200 yards away, head down as it munches on something off the ground I move my finger to the trigger and am exhaling, preparing to shoot my dinner, when I hear it.

Shuffling, footsteps running haggardly. Nasty snarls from Zs. My head snaps toward the sound, and my face breaks into a deep scowl. So much for dinner. 

I sling my rifle around my back and pull myself further into the tree, concealing myself in the leaves and branches. My scope moves back to my eye and I see that, about 50 yards away, a boy about my age with dark hair and a bandanna around his head clutches his side, stumbling away from a group of 8 zombies. He is dirty and wearing what looks like blue coveralls. My first reaction to this sight is irritation. Come on, man, you really had to lead them this way, to me? You've survived four years during the apocalypse. There shouldn't be any problem getting away from the Zs by now. I know I've had plenty of practice, anyway.

I figure I should help this poor boy. It'd be a shame to let someone so attractive get torn apart by zombies. He looks pretty injured. I move the sights to a Zs head and exhale as I pull the trigger. Its head explodes into red goo. The boy's eyes widen and snap around at the sound and he looks around for the culprit. I rack the bolt, and three more Zs drop thanks to my rifle, and he appears to find the energy to pull one hand from his bloody side and pike two Zs with a knife.

I dispatch the last of the zombies, then sling the rifle back and drop from branch to branch, finally reaching the ground seconds later. I break into a light jog and stop when I reach the boy. He is immediately on his guard and readies his knife for a fight with the stranger in front of him.

"I'm not here to hurt you. I would have let the Zs get you if I wanted you dead". He relaxes a bit and shakes his head, looking at me in amazement. His eyes are wide again, and I can see now they are a beautiful, clear green-blue.

"Yeah, thanks for that", he huffs, face contorting a little in pain.

"You're hurt. Let me help, I've got medical supplies at my camp. Follow me", I begin to walk back to my tree, where all my supplies are and a small smile graces my face when I hear his hesitant step fall into place beside me. I haven't smiled for 4 years, and worry briefly my face will shatter at the unfamiliar motion.

"So how did you get all the way out here, anyway? With a gunshot wound and a group of Zs snapping at your heels, no less", I smirk at him. The 2nd time I've smiled in four years, and both times at this strange boy. I must be lonelier than I realized.

"It's...kind of a long story". He stops as we reach the tree. I give him a leg up onto the lowest branch, and we slowly (and painfully, for him) make our way to where my pack is tied to the trunk, sitting on a wide branch.

"I'm Longshot. What should I call you, zombie bait?", I tease.

"10k." I nod and hold my hand out to 10k and he grasps it in his own, shaking it lightly.

"Pleasure to meet you, 10k. Now let's get you fixed up before you get an infection or lose any more blood."

As I clean him up, stitching his side, I feel at peace. We sit on this branch, this stranger and I, high up in a tree, and even though it's the zombie apocalypse and he is injured and probably on the run from someone, I feel less alone and scared than I have in a long time.


	3. Helping Operation Bitemark

There were four other people in my group when the world ended. I was 16 years old when Escorpion killed them all and took me, just a year after the Zs took over. The only reason I was spared was because I was "innocent of the crime and a child", though I'm not entirely sure a 16 year old could still be considered a child during the apocalypse. They just wanted me for entertainment. 

The Zeros came after us when one of the men in my group was caught raiding some of their supplies. They tortured our location out of him and then came for us, taking everything we had and slaughtering them all.

They stuck me in a pit back at their little "sanctuary" and made bets on how long it would take for the Zs they stuck in there with me to tear me apart. They didn't know how badly I wanted to survive. I made a promise to my dying group I would do anything I could to survive, so I chose my weapon and started swinging. 

The first round was just one Z, and it was down in seconds. Some watching Zeros groaned. Then, the next round came. The lights shut off and were replaced with the red glow of emergency lights. Doors opened and a dozen snarling Zs poured out. To be completely honest, I'm not sure how I survived without getting bitten. 

I can't remember most of the fight, but I do remember emerging victorious and panting, covered in blood and sweat and other bodily fluids that I didn't even want to TRY to identify. They took me in and made me a part of Escorpion's personal guard three years ago...the man who killed everyone I cared about, and I had to GUARD him. I watched him do many terrible things to innocent people, even children...and it is impossible to get away from him. I learned my lesson after several broken bones that I could not run.

We left the sanctuary in pursuit of El Murphy. Some message was sent over the radio by Citizen Z about his location, and so we deployed by La Reina's orders. It's amazing how impersonal everything is when your face is covered with a mask...when everyone's is, really. 

Escorpion sent me out fmseparately to look for El Murphy when we arrived in the small town. Armed with my bat and a pistol, I ducked out of the SUV and jogged to the side of a building. Things were quiet for a while, and I just hung around (I had no interest in taking El Murphy to La Reina)...until the situation escalated into a full-blown battle for El Murphy, and I was stuck behind a building. 

"¡Me cago en todo lo que se menea!" Every time I'd peek around the corner, another bullet would hit the wall right in front of my face.

I moved around the back of the building, taking out a Z with a hard swing of my bat. I couldn't stop the cringe when I heard the crunch of bone and squish of rotting brains. I looked around for any enemies and made for another area to search for El Murphy. I ducked behind a brick half-wall and peeked through the fence on top of it.

And there was the infamous El Murphy. This was what La Reina was so obsessed with? A man in tacky clothes, with blue skin? He didn't look like much to me. Just a scared, selfish man running from his chance to save humankind. A tall, lanky blur of black clothes and hair flew across my vision and into Murphy. They both landed painfully on the ground. The kid couldn't have been any older than 18, like me. It saddened me to know that he had to lose the rest of his childhood to this world too.

"You stupid jerk!" The blue man had some sass. Interesting. It would make for an interesting ride back to La Reina, if the Zeros caught him.

I saw Escorpion enter my line of sight...with a weapon that I was convinced must be compensation for SOMETHING. My heart dropped into my stomach. The boy would die if he was anywhere near Escorpion, without a doubt. I couldn't let anyone else be murdered by that evil man in front of me. This boy's life is one that I would save. 

I used the short wall as a boost to the top of the fence and swung myself over the top, dropping seven feet down to hard pavement. The balls of my feet stung as they hit and I rolled one before regaining my footing and bounding for the boy with the beautiful black hair.

His head snapped to me, eyes wide, right before I executed a very beautiful, if I may say so myself, flying tackle. We both flew a few feet before landing and rolling several more yards. A second after I hit the boy, the RPG hit the ground. There was flash of heat and a brightness that stunned me for a brief second, and an explosion that shook even my bones. The ground shook and I stayed in my position, covering my head. 

When there was no more shaking from the concrete, I ripped off my smoldering mask and tossed it to the side. A warm liquid trickled from my left ear, and I touched it, bringing my fingers back to see blood. That stupid hijo de puta busted my eardrum. (Did I mention that a majority of Spanish I used with the Zeros was cursing?)

"Tomar por el culo," I spat at Escorpion's unconscious form. He flew back from the explosion himself, and must have cracked his head on something. I couldn't hear myself from my left ear, and my heart sunk in concern. My right ear was ringing heavily, but I could still hear from it. Good to know it was still intact, at least.

Grabbing the disoriented boy's vest, I dragged him behind a wrecked car and was immediately met with a group of people...including a very grumpy El Murphy. I dropped 10k and my hands shot up, pointing my pistol in their direction in defense. Their leader, a woman with dark skin, stepped forward with her hands up. 

"We don't want any trouble. We just want 10k," she gestured to the rousing boy. 10k, very interesting name.

I nodded and put the gun down. I didn't want any trouble either. I just wanted to get out of there before Escorpion woke up. I stuck out my hand for her to shake. "Alea".

She looked cautious before taking my hand. "Are you with the Zeros?"

"Yes and no. Escorpion murdered my group and forced me to stay with them. I've been trying to escape for 4 years."

"Well, I'm Lieutenant Roberta Warren."

"Operation Bitemark? Yeah, I've heard about you. You're here for El Murphy too."

"Yes...and I hope you'll give us no trouble about taking him?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. I don't have a death wish. I just want to get out of here."

She smrirked at that. "Well thank you for helping 10k." She turned slightly and looked at the faces of her group, including the now-awake 10k. "Do you need a ride?"

"You'd really do that for me?" I glanced at the boy, 10k, and saw that he was looking at me too. His cheeks tinted with pink and his lips twitched up nervously, before he looked away. 

"Sure." I smiled, offering my hand to 10k, who was still slumped on the ground. He took it and we both took a seat in the back of a large, military-grade vehicle.

I knew that they didn't quite trust me, but I expected that. I was prepared for them to keep an eye on me the entire trip to wherever we went, or wherever they dropped me off. I made eye contact with 10k again. He didn't seem like any of the younger male Zeros I had been around for so long.

"Thanks...for saving me."

"My pleasure." I gave him a wide smile.

We made our escape back to the roads and headed toward California.


	4. JJ

I was four years old when I started to lose my hearing. My parents started to notice that I didn't respond to quiet voices anymore. The doctors said all the tiny bones in my ears were underdeveloped and would not grow with me past what they had already. The loss got worse and worse as I got older, and now, at 19, I barely hear anything. 

I was lucky enough to have been able to learn to speak aloud. My parents also made the effort to learn sign language with me. They could not afford any surgeries to correct my problem, but I didn't mind. Being hard of hearing had just become who I was, and being a part of deaf culture was an honor. It became a part of who I was. 

I was homeschooled until I was fifteen, when the apocalypse began. There wasn't much use or time for furthering my education after that...I was just trying to stay alive. And I was alone. My parents were older folks, and serious hippies. They refused to kill any of the Zs when they came to our small cottage in the desert. They died quickly. I mercied them and wandered through the desert alone for several days before I found civilization. 

I was severely dehydrated and had only an old crowbar as a weapon. The only people I found...weren't people anymore. That was four years ago. I encountered a few people here and there while I wandered, but it just didn't seem right to go with any of them. My being hard of hearing seemed to freak people out when I met them. They saw my hearing loss as dangerous and a burden. After all, how could I know when a zombie was coming if I couldn't hear it? 

What I never told them was the extra sense I seemed to develop during my time alone. Whenever a zombie was near, the hairs on the back of my neck bristled like the hair on the back of an angry dog. I could smell the dead too. The rest of the senses tend to heighten when one is lost. I just never had a problem avoiding or killing Zs after a while. 

I was in a small suburban neighborhood near one of the larger cities in the area, going through the different houses for supplies. I got lucky and there were only a few Zs wandering around. I took them out easily, using a slightly more modified version of my crowbar. I had gotten weirdly attached to it and couldn't bear to get rid of it in favor of a fancier weapon. It got the job done, anyway. When I came out of a house and saw the red and orange streaks across the sky, I cursed under my breath and went across the sticky pavement to the next house. 

I'll just stay here tonight. 

I glanced around quickly, scanning my surroundings, before creeping up to the wide front door. My hand was light on the knob and shook as it turned. I prayed that the door wasn't squeaking as it opened. A sigh of relief emptied from my chest when there were no Zs in the house. I laid on the couch in the living room and quickly drifted off, cuddling my crowbar close to my chest. 

My eyelids snapped open as I felt the shift of air in the room on my bare arms and I was to my feet in an instant, crowbar ready. The door crept open. My heart thrummed out an unsteady rhythm and my fingertips pulsed around the tight grip on the rough metal of my crowbar. At last, the intruder showed themselves...in the form of a tall boy that couldn't have been much older than I was. 

Both of our weapons were raised and ready to strike. His would absolutely win. A high-powered rifle was grasped in his gloved hands. A small group of people crowded behind him, all staring at me with wide eyes. Their eyes weren't nearly as wide as the boy's, though. His were the size of two pale moons, and dark in the fading light of the late sunset. 

For a moment, we all just stared at each other. I didn't even dare let out a breath. At long last, someone's lips moved. The woman was dark, and I could barely make out the words on her lips in the dim light. 

"Easy, we aren't here to hurt you. We are just looking for some shelter for the night." She lowered her weapon slowly, motioning for the others to do the same. 

They all hesitated before listening.

"It's okay," she stepped around the boy with the rifle, "I'm Roberta Warren." 

She stuck her hand out for me to shake and I finally broke my stone arms free and lowered the crowbar, reaching to grasp her hand in greeting. 

I coughed lightly, clearing my throat. "I'm JJ." 

My voice felt rough and my tongue thick. I cringed internally. By habit, my hands moved to match my words. She cocked her head to the side and I watched a few strands of dark hair brush against her cheek. 

"Would it be a problem for us to bunk here tonight?" She signed back when she spoke. 

"You sign?" 

Her face turned warm, almost sympathetic toward me as she nodded. 

"It's not a problem. There are supplies in the corner," I pointed them out. "Just don't do anything stupid, like attack me." I grinned. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," a very...sick-looking man spoke up. As in, he was blue. 

The hairs on my neck prickled up, sending small pinpricks across my skin...just like when a Z is nearby. An uneasy feeling dug its way into my chest and made a small nest just above my stomach, but it wasn't my business to ask about the strange man. Shuddering a little, I turned to lead the group to the supplies. I wouldn't need all of the stuff, anyway. I could get more. It's hard to get enough for a whole group of people, these days. 

"Wow! You collected all this?" A girl a little older than me spoke now, and I worked on reading her lips. 

I was seriously out of practice, not having any human contact in so long. I let the corners of my lips turn up, then nodded. 

"Take everything you want. I only need a tiny bit of it." 

After some protest, I finally got the small group to take most of the supplies. The older man that reminded me a lot of my father, Doc, and the blue man, Murphy, took the master bedroom upstairs. Roberta Warren and the girl with very red hair took the bunkbeds in the other bedroom. The attractive man named Vasquez was on first watch on the porch, though there wasn't a Z within miles thanks to me. 10k and I were in the living room together. 

It crossed my mind that the group stuck him downstairs with me to keep an eye on me, but I didn't mind. I was still weary of the group...but there was a kindness in each of their eyes that made distrust difficult. I kept my crowbar pulled up to my chest and laid back on the loveseat, letting 10k have the bigger couch due to his long form. I was just drifting off to sleep when I felt something brush my arm. Before my eyes even opened, my feet were on the ground and I had whatever touched me pinned to the wall, my crowbar across its chest. 

I opened my eyes to see the intruder...only to realize it was just 10k. 

"What were you doing to me?" I squinted into his wide eyes, my hand and crowbar rising and falling with his rapid breaths. 

"I-I...you looked cold...," he managed. 

I looked back and saw a blanket laying a few feet back on the floor. I suddenly felt bad for the poor boy. He was showing me kindness, and I had just attacked him. I turned my head back to him. 

"I'm sorry. I've just been alone for a long time." 

I lowered my weapon and stepped back. 

"Thank you for the blanket." I smiled at him warmly and moved back to the couch, grabbing the blanket on my way. "By the way? My real name is Juniper...Juniper Jones." 

He nodded at me, letting his own face slip into a small grin. There was a small touch of pink in his cheeks. We talked for a while. About how we got where we were, about my hearing loss, about why he was called 10k and the mission to get Murphy to California...he seemed to come more out of his shell after some nudging from me. I even taught him a few signs that may be useful in the future. 

\---------------- 

The next morning, I was up earlier than the rest. For a while, I just watched 10k from across the room. He was so peaceful in his sleep, and his hair stood up at all angles. A small flutter started from my stomach and moved to my chest. 

At last, the group was up and packing up their vehicles. I readied my own supplies and watched Warren whisper to the rest of the group. She walked over, 10k in tow, and I cocked my head in curiosity. 

"I just talked to the rest and...we think you could come in handy. Would you like to come with us to California, JJ?" 

I couldn't believe what Warren was offering me. A group? They hardly knew me, but they would take me into their group. 

"I'd love to," I beamed. 

"Alright. Grab your stuff. We head out in five." 

She walked away. 10k stayed, shifting awkwardly. "Can I ask a huge favor?" 

I bit my lip. He nodded and adjusted the strap of the rifle on his shoulder. 

"My real name? Don't tell anyone, okay? They don't all need to know my parents were serious hippies." 

"Sure," he smiled, "JJ?" 

"Hmm?" His tongue brushed his lips. "My real name is Tommy." 

"Well, I guess we're square, then." I grinned and stepped closer, lightly nudging his shoulder with my hand. 

"Guess so," he blushed back, a crooked grin taking place on his full lips. 

We stepped out into the hot sun, heading toward the truck and toward California, whatever that may hold.


	5. Another Life

They closed in, spitting rotten, bloody saliva and grasping out with decaying hands.

"You go first and I'll hold them off!"

He picked me up and nearly threw me up the unstable row of shelves, giving me a jump start to safety. I barely grasped it, nails pulling back and scraping the dusty top. My knee knocked off a dented jug of bleach and a huff of breath left me as my ribs slammed against one of the lower shelves. Gritting my teeth, I ignored the throbbing in my ribs and scrambled the rest of the way up. Pushing through starvation and dehydration was an impossible task, but I still flattened my body down to the shelves and flung my arms down to Damien. The dead started to close in on him and then his arms interlocked with mine.

I pulled with every ounce of strength I could muster, shouting out in pain when my shoulders started to pull from their sockets. Damien looked up at me, and a terrifying resolution took over his expression. He let my arms go and dropped back down, throwing one last glance at me...and turned to face the Zs. Horror slammed into my chest and crushed my hammering heart as the realization that he wasn't coming with me dawned.

I barely had time to shriek in agony before they overtook him. They started to tear him apart, his blood spattering my face. 

His screams rattled my brain and I jerked awake. I threw a trembling hand over my clammy face. Nearly nine months later, and memories of my boyfriend's death still haunted my nightmares. We had managed to survive three years of the apocalypse before a herd caught us. Since the night I lost Damien, I'd slept on the tops of shelves in the grocery store two towns over. It's the only place I felt safe, and of course I didn't just have to worry about myself anymore. I had another life to worry about. 

The one growing inside me. The one Damien helped create. 

It was all I had left of him. We were stupid to think that the one time we had been together wouldn't come to this. I was terrified, naturally, especially for the small life I carried. I was only 17, with Damien being 19, and it was too late to take care of it when I found out. And don't even get me started on the thoughts of being torn apart from the inside if the baby turned Z.

The obnoxious creak the front door of the store made echoed throughout the building, ripping me away from my thoughts. I flipped to my stomach as well as I could manage and stilled my body as I watched a small group of people walk through the door. They were lead by two women, one with bright red hair that was holding what appeared to be a modified baseball bat. A tall, lanky boy with a sniper rifle flanked them, sweeping the building with a sharp gaze. 

I struggled into a sitting position. "Uh, hey, excuse me! Trying to get some shuteye here? Do you even understand how hard it is to sleep during a zombie apocalypse?"

The redhead smirked. "I think we can sympathize."

The corners of my mouth lifted in response. "I'm Zoe, by the way." She nodded and grinned lightly.

I caught a glance of the boy as he took me in, gaze lingering on my swollen abdomen. He nudged the darker woman who I had decided must be the leader, then jerked his chin toward the bump.

"So you're....-". Her eyes softened considerably, but there was a new, guarded expression on her face.

I nodded, my hand lifting to touch my warm stomach.

"It could happen any day now. I've been keeping track."

The long, lean boy shifted, averting his gaze awkwardly.

"Well, you should probably get going. You were probably looking for supplies, right? I have plenty to share. Here, take some," I gestured out to where I consolidated the food and medicines. These people had more mouths to feed than I did...and that's considering I survived the whole birthing process.

I went to bag some stuff up for the trio, listening to them mumbling to each other across the room to distract my mind from the thought of my baby zombified, me zombified....

"So....? Should we ask her to come with us?"

"I don't know, Addy....a baby could be dangerous."

"She's all alone, Warren. She can't do this by herself!"

"Look how everything turned out with Lucy."

"She's not Murphy. And that baby isn't half zombie-"

A flood of liquid soaked my ripped up jeans, and I stared down incredulously. What the hell? Did I just piss myself? I knew my bladder was a little funky these days, but still... A gasp must have made its way through my lips because a large hand came down on my shoulder. The dark-haired boy had come over to check on me, and was staring wide-eyed at my wet jeans, his face so red it was almost funny.

Then I had my first contraction. It wasn't as bad at I expected, at first. Just a small tightening and a little pain. Nothing I couldn't handle. The women, Addy and Warren, came over when they realized what had started. The contractions became more and more intense as the minutes passed, and I ground my teeth through each one so I wouldn't scream out. The last thing we'd want was Zs being attracted to this party. Still, I couldn't help but let a strangled shriek out after a particularly bad rush of agony.

That small sound was enough to attract a group of about six zombies to the large windows of the store. They began to bang around on the glass, smearing their bloody faces and grimy hands on the clear surface as they spotted us inside. The window groaned and small cracks like a spiderweb grew across the width.

Terror at the idea of them busting in quickened my breaths. Great, I was in labor in this stupid tiny store in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, and now we had a little sextet of flesh-eaters trying to join in on the fun. I groaned as another contraction hit.

"Alright, Addy, 10k, help me get her up to the roof," commanded the woman who must be Warren. They grasped under my arms and helped me limp up the stairs to the roof.

After busting through the door, Warren and Addy laid me on the hot rooftop as the boy, 10k, pulled a chain from his pants and went to work securing the door. Addy produced some towels from one of their packs and set them beside me.

"Anyone here know how to deliver a baby?," I puffed.

"I-I helped a couple women deliver their babies at that camp of women I was at," Addy answered after a beat. "We're going to have to take off your pants..."

I nodded, complying. 10k turned away, the tips of his ears red, and pointed his rifle at the door, guarding. They draped a towel over my legs after helping me shimmy out of the ruined fabric of my jeans. A loud smash from downstairs made us all start.

"They broke through," Warren spat. She turned back to me. "Think you're ready to push?"

I nodded, wishing more than ever that I still had Damien here with me. He was always so calm and collected under pressure. I missed him so much.

"Okay, next contraction you have I need you to push," Addy readied herself and our supplies. The first of the Zs reached the door and I grasped at Warren's hand. The door shook and groaned, and I groaned with it as another contraction hit and I pushed, hard.

As I opened my eyes, I saw Addy widen her own and pull her hands out from under the towel. They were coated with a vibrant, red blood. She and Warren exchanged a panicked look. I wasn't stupid. I knew what it meant for me if I kept bleeding. The Zs caught the smell of the fresh blood as became even more violent with the door, snarling loudly. A couple of rotting hands reached through the crack in the door.

A few agonizing minutes later, and I gave the final push that delivered our baby. Addy wiped the blood from the screaming, wriggling form. She and Warren both smiled, looking at each other.

"It's a boy, Zoe." A boy. Damien's son. Warm tears streaked through the dirt on my cheeks. She and Warren wrapped him in a towel and pressed him to my chest. A joy filled my chest, mixing with a deep sadness. I'd never get to see him grow up....I'd never get to protect him.

"We have a problem," called 10k from his stiff position in front of the door. We all looked up to see the door inch open, slowly breaking the chain that bound it.

Coldness was seeping in through my limbs, seizing my chest. My eyes fluttered and I struggled to keep them open for just a few more minutes. 

"Addy, please, please take him", I rasped. The cold was stealing my voice. "Please, promise me you'll protect him." I used what little strength I had left to fix her with an urgent gaze. He had to live. He just had to.

We locked eyes, mine struggling to stay open and hers steady and intense. She gave a quick nod and pulled my baby from my arms. I let them go limp. There was no reason to use them, now. She handed my son to Warren and stooped down close to my face. Tears brimmed around her eyelids.

Her hands grasped one of mine, but I barely felt it. "I'll make sure he's safe. I promise." 

A small smile found my lips. "Thank you."

Warren called 10k over and he slung his rifle to his back as she handed him my baby. "Take the baby and start toward the truck. We'll hold them off and meet you." 10k nodded and threw me one last, sad glance before pulling the baby tightly to his chest and running around the back of the roof.

Warren turned to the door and raised her pistol just as the first of the Zs broke through. Everything turned more blurry as I started to slip into the darkness.

"Go," I whispered to her, "get yourselves safe." She nodded, slinging her pack over her shoulders, and disappeared. I didn't really even notice the zombies that stopped to hunch around me. I could finally see Damien again, right in front of me. I reached out to grasp his hand and faded completely into the darkness.


	6. Bo

I watched them take the group, yanking sacks over their heads and binding their hands before dragging them to the caravan of trucks. A couple of them thrashed, throwing wild kicks in any direction they thought their assailants may be. These fighters got a stiff knee in the gut. I flinched, remembering how I was often on the receiving end of those knees. The movement loosened a part of my bangs from my braid, and I quickly tucked them back, shifting my weight back to my heels. I was ducked behind a small stretch of brush in the trendline, watching through a cheap pair of binoculars.

It wasn't my first time sneaking out after the men from our compound. I hated that place so much it put a fire in the pit of my stomach to stay for too long, so naturally, I would sneak out as often as I was able. I wasn't always allied with the men and women at the compound. I was by myself since the zombpocalypse all started that first year, after some thieves shot my mom over our car and a few rusty cans of food. I managed to get away, and learned to take care of myself at just thirteen years old. It was just easier that way, anyway, without a group. I could move more freely, scavenge enough food for only myself easily.

I didn't go with this particular group willingly...they took me when I had my guard down. Tortured me until they thought my will had broken. I lost count of the bones they snapped, and I had scars striping my body and a nasty one on my right cheek from when they got especially bored. This happened for months, the torture. That was how they got the unwilling to join their little group...power in numbers, and all that.

The group they captured had numbers, skill, and supplies, so they were more valuable than half the compound put together. I followed them the couple miles back to the camp on foot, sticking to the treeline, before slipping under the fence behind what served as the chow hall. I had burrowed a little hole underneath the fence, just big enough for my small frame to fit through, after I healed up and they deemed me safe enough to roam freely around the area. I wasn't stupid enough to stay gone for too long from the encampment...they had taken a particular liking to my "spunk", as one man called it, and planted a chip deep in the muscle of my forearm that alerted them if I went out of their range. That was one of the times I hadn't had the privilege of passing out, so I got to watch the whole thing, helpless to stop it.

I wasn't allowed to have any weapons, even after being stuck with these monsters for almost two years...they still didn't trust me with even a butter knife. I guess that's the price to be paid for trying to gain loyalty through pain and fear. The occasional attempts I made on the leader's life may also have kept them from giving me access to weapons, but I digress. I still managed keep a decent machete under the loose floorboards of the cabin I shared with two guards.

Dahlia, the leader of our compound, sent groups out often for ammo, food, and other supplies. On the rare occasion, they found a few victims to bring back and force into our ranks. When they didn't buy into the peaceful way of life that was pitched to them, they were beaten and tortured into submission. My cabin was always close enough that I could hear their screams. Sometimes, I managed to sabotage their missions of capture just enough that the people escaped. They never knew it was me, somehow. They weren't the brightest baddies in the evil crayon box. Still, I hated every last one of them with every cell in my starved body.

In spite of the monsters that ran that place and the aspirations of murder I had toward Dahlia, I never saw a real reason to leave. I had water, enough food to keep from starvation, and safety, so I didn't mind being miserable for a little while so much. Something changed, though, when I saw them take that particular group. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that I saw my mother in their leader's eyes, or how I saw them communicate and act like a family, or even the strange attraction I felt toward the lanky, dark-haired boy, but I knew they were different, and I had to help them.

That night, I snuck out through the cabin door, my machete tucked into the waistband of my ratty jeans and obscured by an oversized flannel. My windows had long since been boarded, so the door was the easiest way without a power tool. They always kept their new prisoners in what used to be a miniscule police station, since it had a few cells that were presumably used for the town drunks before the apocalypse.

I managed to creep around the perimeter of the fence without running into anyone. When I reached my target, though, the scuffing of oversized boots made my ears prick. I hid around the corner of the station to let a guard patrol past, pressing my back to the rough brick and holding my breath. When they passed, whistling some sort of cheerful number, I stuck to the shadows thrown across the lawn and ducked through the entrance. What I did not factor into my plan was the small bell hung in the doorway that alerted the guard to my presence.

The guard was on me like flies on shit, grasping my forearm and planting a foot into my chest that knocked me to the wooden floor before I had the chance to react.

"If it isn't darling little Bo," he grinned, showing a row of black, rotting teeth. "Now, what could you be doing here so late?" He stepped around and pressed his foot to my aching chest.

"Well, that's none of your damn business, Robert, but I'll have you know I was just going for a walk. Now, if you don't mind, get your fat ass foot off me," I spat, squirming to get out from under the pressure.

He tsked, crossing his massive arms. "You know you're not supposed to be out this late. It's past your curfew. Now tell me the real reason you're here."

I pulled the machete out of my waistband, leaving a shallow slice along my side, and stabbed it deep into the muscle of his calf. It twitched and spasmed, and I ripped my weapon back out. Robert fell backward, his foot leaving my chest.

"You little bitch!," he roared. 

The muscles across his chest rippled through his shirt as he reached for me, but my small size gave me the advantage. I skipped backward, spinning to his side and lashing out with the machete again, hissing as my side burned. This time, it bit through his ribcage and into his chest cavity. Blood frothed from his lips as he convulsed, and my weapon found his eye socket. Nobody needed a Z running around and infecting everyone...that would have just tipped off every guard to my whereabouts. 

I wiped both sides of my machete off on his t-shirt and rose, snatching the key from his pocket. I had to hurry. Surely the sounds had alerted someone. I rushed to the back of the station and slammed through the doorway to the cells. There, the some of the group from earlier was bound tightly to chairs, and the rest occupied the few cells. I went to the cells first and jammed the key into a lock. The boy from earlier was in the cell, and I especially wanted to make sure he went free. I yanked the bars and opened the door, and then was promptly slammed against it, my face pressed tightly against the bars by a large hand on my neck and my arms pinned to my back by another. The boy had both disarmed me and had me pinned in seconds. The gash on my side screamed as it opened further.

I was astounded, my breaths coming in pained and panicked gasps. "Whoa, whoa, I'm just trying to help you guys." My voice came out distorted through the bars. "Here, take the key and get your friends. I promise I won't do anything. I'll stay right here." I opened my hand to reveal the key.

He grabbed the item from my hand and released me, pushing me away. I stumbled a step and then planted my feet, my hands in the air as I watched him unlock the other cell and then pick up my machete to cut the others free. Once everyone was loose, he stepped up to me.

"Why are you helping us?" His clear eyes searched my face, and his expression remained guarded.

I put my hands down cautiously and removed the flannel, revealing the jagged scars along my torso and arms. "Because I was a prisoner too. I hate it here, and I hate all of them. I couldn't let them hurt anyone else..."

The tips of his ears turned red as he took in my exposed flesh. There was an ominous ring as someone else entered the station. I pulled the shirt back on and looked to the other group members. "You guys need to get moving if you're going to get out. They know something is up. Let's go."

They hesitated for a beat before following after me to the back storage room, where they kept all their gear. They had just loaded up when the first guard saw us. He had started to yell to the others before another machete sunk into his skull. The leader ripped it back out and rolled her shoulders. The man collapsed, his dead weight bringing him down hard. I led the group out of the building and through more shadows. The guards raced around now, wielding large guns and flashlights and communicating in short shouts. We had reached my small hole in the fence when shouting erupted from the police station.

"They know you're gone! Go, go, go!" I waved them through frantically and then slipped through myself. 

We disappeared into the woods, running for about a mile and a half before stopping to check on everyone. We all panted as we took each other in.

"Thank you...for helping us. I'm Roberta Warren. This is 10k, Addy, Murphy, Doc, and Vasquez." Their leader extended her hand to me, and I grasped it.

"Call me Bo." I smiled lightly and looked at the boy again to find him staring intensely back at me. A small thought dawned, sending my heart hammering unsteadily in my chest. "Shit...anyone have a little knife I could borrow?"

The boy nodded and handed me a small knife, which I promptly dug into my forearm, cutting through my muscle to the chip. There was a chorus of nervous "whoas" and gasps over my grunt of pain as the blood streamed down my arm. I reached in at last with a shaking hand and plucked the chip out, then snapped it in half.

"They...chipped me. Didn't want me going too far unless they knew about it." 

"What, were you like a little pet or something? Are we seriously going to trust this girl?", a man who appeared...blue....grumbled, irritated.

Doc handed me a handkerchief for my arm and helped me wrap a ripped up piece of shirt around my side.

"She saved us, Murphy. If she wanted us dead, she'd have left us there." Addy, the redhead, smiled at me warmly. "Thank you," she turned to me.

"I just couldn't watch them hurt anyone else."

"Well...why don't you come with us for a little while, to California?" Doc patted my hand, a gentle look in his eyes. 

Warren hesitated, working me over with a guarded expression. "I...suppose that we could use someone else. Sure. But," she stepped forward, lowering her voice, " if you try anything, I will put you down myself."

I gulped, nodding. "Of course."

"Okay, great. Now that we're done with the touchy-feely stuff, can we get going?" Murphy, of course. I was already learning his particular brand of snark.

With that, we headed toward whatever was ahead for us in California.


	7. Mara

The smell of rotting flesh was never something I got used to. In all three years of the z-pocalypse, the putrid odor of hot zombie still brought bile racing to my throat. So this situation my group and I were in had me pulling my bandanna higher on my face to escape the puke-inducing smell of dying Zs.

We were somewhere in the Midwest in the middle of July, trying to get Murphy's sad ass to California, when we got ourselves stuck in the middle of a town that must have been having a festival when the Zs took over. To be fair, we wouldn't be stuck if Murphy hadn't tried to make a run for it....again.

"Seriously", I looked at Addy as I freed my machete from another Zs head. "What kind of town decides to have a festival ENTIRELY DEDICATED to weed?"

"My kind of town," Doc said wistfully, swinging his crowbar down on another zombie. 

I rolled my eyes playfully and smiled lightly at him. "Well maybe we'll get lucky and you can find a souvenir from the festival. I kinda want one of those hemp shirts, myself."

Doc smiled back, eyes crinkling. I grabbed Addy's hand and pulled her back over to Warren, who was just finishing off her own group of Zs with 10k and Mack.

Warren looked at us sternly as we approached, cocking an eyebrow. "Any sign of Murphy?"

We shook our heads and I pulled the cover off my face. "We have GOT to plant some sort of tracking chip on that blue son of a bitch...."

"Yeah, well, we have to find him first. 10k, go with Doc and Mara and take the west side of town. Addy and Mack, you'll come with me to the east side. We're going to find Murphy if it kills us."

"It just might," I grumbled, starting off to the West. Doc and 10k trailed just behind me as we swiftly covered ground, chatting softly.

I stepped up to one of the stands lining the street and grabbed up a large tye-dyed tee, stuffing it into my bag, before I tossed two more at Doc and 10k.

"Now we can match," I grinned widely, bringing a flush of pink to 10k's dirty face. Doc shrugged, head tilting to the side, before stuffing his tee into his own bag.

We looked through two more abandoned buildings, piking a few Zs along the way, when we got surrounded by a group of about 20 zombies. Doc had just found his "souvenir" at another one of the stands, when the dead came pouring in from alleyways and streets next to us.

I swore under my breath as I grabbed my machete from my hip. I should have paid better attention to our surroundings. We were running dangerously low on ammo, and I always liked to keep a few extra bullets handy as a last resort for the group, so I knew my gun was not an option. 10k pressed his back to mine, bringing his icepick up, and doc followed suit with his crowbar.

Then we started killing.

It took a good 20 minutes to dispatch all the Zs, with several close calls for each one of our small group. I piked a Z that was just about to snack down on 10k just as Doc picked off another coming up behind me, and then they were all dead.

I groaned, plopping to my hands and knees and retching on the sidewalk. Doc and 10k panted as they plopped down beside me and passed around a canteen.

"Well, there's still no sign of Murphy", Doc drawled, standing, "and the sun's starting to set. We should meet back with Warren and the others and see if they've had better luck."

I nodded and 10k stood, offering a gloved hand to me. I took it gratefully and stood, blushing slightly at 10k, before we headed off to find the others.


	8. Sacrifice

Have you ever stopped to think about how far you would go for the ones you love? Would you take a bullet for them? Trade your life for theirs? Do anything it takes to ensure their survival?

Before the apocalypse, I never really thought about stuff like that. I was always too absorbed in surviving until the end of high school to think about my loved ones. And then it was too late. Everyone I loved either turned or got ripped apart in front of my naive eyes. There was no more time to think about what I would do for them…they were just gone.

When I met Operation Bitemark, I was empty. I had let the world make me hard…let my loss turn me into an emotionless shell, no better than the dead that desperately tried to tear at my flesh. They showed me a better way. The small spark of hope I got from Murphy’s sad ass was enough to stir up the fading life within me. I began to care again. I began to love again.

The ragtag group became my family, and I vowed to never take them for granted in the way that I had my old family. These people were so important to me, I would die in an instant to preserve any one of them. I would stand face-to-face with a thousand Zs to protect them.

That would be put to the test when Sun Mei developed a cure for the zombie virus. An honest-to-god cure. One that would turn a Z back into a human, granted they were preserved well enough. The only problem was that it couldn’t be injected straight into a zombie; it had to have a living human to activate, and the zombie had to then bite the human, resulting in the transfer of affected human blood to the unwitting zombie. The theory was that it would work on fresh zombies, and how they still had enough of the human consciousness left to bring back fully.

It was a true pain in the ass. It also hadn’t undergone human trials yet. It was a bit difficult to find someone willing to get bitten by a zombie and risk turning. When Addy and 10k got into a rough spot with a horde of zombies and ended up with bites, there was only one option for me to take, and that was the way of being the first human volunteer for the trials.

\-------------

“I can’t just leave them as Zs. I have to do something. Just give me the injection,” I growled at Sun Mei. She was reluctant to use the experimental cure on someone she was so close to, but I wasn’t giving her much of a choice. “Look, either you stick me or they are as good as forever undead. Please, Sun….I love them so much. Let me do this.”

She looked at me, eyes searching my face for any lingering reluctance. There was not a conflict or doubt in my mind about doing whatever was possible to save my friends. 10k especially…I had allowed myself to fall in love with the boy, and nearly ripped my own heart from my chest when he turned.

“Okay…” she raised the syringe full of a brown, viscous liquid to my neck. “Are you sure you want to do this, KJ? There’s still a chance it won’t work…and if it doesn’t…” she looked away. Not bothering to finish. We both knew what would happen if the cure didn’t work and I got bitten. I would walk among the dead with Addy and 10k.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

Sun Mei nodded and pierced the soft skin of my neck with the thick needle. The sensation of the thick liquid seeping into my jugular was unlike anything I had ever experienced before, and had an afterburn as if I had let fireants crawl into every orifice of my face. My body jerked to the floor and seized, convulsing around the foreign substance that ran through my veins. I gasped and panted, horrified at the agonizing pain. Still cringing and trembling from the effects of the medication after a few minutes, I stood from where I had dropped to the floor and stumbled to the small bell that contained my friends as Warren, Doc, and Sun sat back and watched.

Addy and 10k snarled and clawed for me as I reached the lock to the cell door, dripping frothy saliva as they yearned for my blood. I averted my eyes downward. I had seen enough of them as Zs to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life, however long I may have left. Hands trembled as they clutched the cool metal of the lock and twisted the small key. The contraption sprung open with a loud clack and I let it clatter to the floor.

“Fuck,” I muttered to myself. “I really, really fucking don’t want to do this. You guys owe me big time.” Addy and 10k continued trying to get to me through the bars, unaware of what I was about to do for them….to them.

The door pulled open silently and I stepped inside, taking care to fully shut it behind me. Addy and 10k were on me like stink on shit and I shoved Addy to the side before bringing the outside of my forearm to 10k’s chomping mouth. My other arm came up as Addy flew back at me, and they both ripped through the filthy leather of my jacket to my unmarked skin. Teeth sunk in to the bone on both sides, and I dropped to my knees, crying out in fear and overwhelming pain. My friends followed me to the floor, releasing their vice-like grips on my shredded arms to fall to their sides. They roared and thrashed around, spitting my blood and their infected saliva, smearing the mixture into the dust-covered wooden planks that made up the floor.

I cradled my arms to my abdomen, head lolling backward into the metal bars as the room spun around me. I focused my fading vision as much as I could on the stilling figures that occupied the cell with me. Gasping breaths came from both of them–startled breaths that ripped the oxygen from the air and spat it back out in huffs.

Sharp intakes of breath rose from behind me as the others watched Addy and 10k cough and drag themselves into a slouched sitting position. Addy looked around, startled, tears falling from her rosy cheeks. I watched from behind heavy eyelids as 10k’s cloudy, white eyes faded back into the sea-colored eyes I fell for. We locked gazes and he crawled toward me slowly, deliberately. Rough, gloved fingers came up to stroke my face as his eyes filled with wonder, spilling over with tears.

A smile rose to my lips. “It worked. It actually worked.” Joy bubbled up in my chest and spilled from my lips in a breathy laugh, and I brought a bloody hand up to touch his face, full of new color and life. We pulled each other into a firm embrace, living hearts raving against each other as we shared in the joy of a renewed life.

At last, we had a cure for zombies.


	9. Mercy

It was sometime in the middle of summer when I found myself with the rest of Operation Bitemark at the front of a random shopping mall in Colorado.  We had run out of a lot of our supplies and had caught wind of a large sum of supplies still in the abandoned building.  There were still a fair amount of Zs inside, or so we heard, so nobody around wanted to brave going inside.

Naturally, there was some opposition amongst our small group about heading in to scavenge.  Murphy mumbled about being able to keep some Zs away from us and Warren and 10k were confident we could take all the zombies, but Addy and I were speculative about how much Murphy really cared about our lives.  We were also unsure about how many Zs there were and, like so many others, didn't want to risk going inside for a questionable amount of supplies.

We ultimately all decided to go in anyway.  With any luck, we would outnumber and outman the Zs and not come away empty-handed. 

"If I die, I'm gonna be really mad," I grumbled, reluctantly following 10k's lanky form and gripping my machete a little tighter.

"Hey," Addy murmured, wrapping her arm around my slumped shoulders, "it'll be alright, Lee".  She tilted the corners of her lips up in a comforting smile and released me.

I sighed and nodded, resigning myself to yet another stress-filled side mission that will most probably end poorly, but still in the group's favor.  Still, dread churned in my stomach, attempting to build into full-blown panic.

We all entered through a side door with a broken handle, the groaning of the metal deafening in the silence of the hot afternoon.  After creeping inside, we fanned out and took out the few stray zombies there.

"Ugh, dead body smell.  Gross", I pulled up the collar of my shirt to cover my mouth and nose, trying not to retch.

"That was almost too easy..." Addy murmured, eyes shifting uneasily around the area.

All of our attention flew to Murphy as he stumbled over a rotting corpse, then kicked a stray bottle across the crusty linoleum floor.  Heads snapped over to glare at him and he cringed, throwing us an apologetic grimace.  I was in the process of rolling my eyes when we heard them.

From around the corner came a group of about 30 Zs, snarling and dripping blood and rot and death.  

"Fuck", someone breathed, and all at once the zombies spotted us, the promise of fresh meat animating them further.  In small groups, they broke into a run.

Murphy couldn't control this many Zs.  We broke into a sprint toward the exit, the zombies snapping at our heels, and busted through the door one by one.  As I was working my way through the door, a toe caught the metal frame at the bottom and I went down, down concrete stairs and onto the gravel-filled grass below, hitting the ground with an "oomph".

10k and Doc turned around and started back toward me, grabbing my arms and hoisting me up.  I attempted to put weight on my left foot and found quickly that my calf shrieked in agony at the motion and had bulged up toward the crease of my knee.  My arms were around their shoulders and the men were nearly dragging me away from the horde but it was no use.  We weren't moving quickly enough to escape.

"Guys," I groaned, "Just go without me.  I'm done.  It's okay."

"No! We aren't leaving you behind, Lee." Doc's voiced was strained with the effort of carrying half my weight.

"Doc, please, just let me go.  My calf muscle is fucked, I think it's torn.  We aren't moving fast enough to get away.  I'm just holding you back.  Please".  I pulled my arms off their shoulders, out of their grasps, and slid my machete and pistol out of their holsters at my hips.  "I'll hold them off.  Just let me do this for you guys.  I'm not important and you need to get Murphy to California.  Besides," I smirked  "Maybe I'll catch up after I take care of these zombie shits".

I looked 10k in the eyes, pleading with him to let me go, to move on without me, and he confirmed with a small dip of his head.  Doc protested as I turned away from them and there was a scuffling of shoes as 10k pulled him along, away to the promise of safety. Swallowing down tears, I readied my weapons and began killing the first of the Zs that reached me.  

I got about five down when I got overtaken, my pistol out of bullets and the zombies grabbing my arms and jacket.  Rotting, bloody teeth broke through the skin of my neck and shoulders, searing pain shooting through my veins, and I looked up and over to where 10k was looking over his shoulder at me.  We met eyes again and he raised his gun.  I barely made out the word on his lips through the burning of infection running through my fading body.

Mercy.

Then, darkness.


	10. A Dilemma: Part 1

Gunshots rang out in the distance. They were less than a mile from the small shack I was being held in, if I had to estimate.

I huffed out a laugh, letting my head roll back to stare at the grimy ceiling spattered with old blood and mildew and something kind of purple. My arms flexed, weakly pulling at the ties that held them in place behind the chair.

"Trouble around the camp, asshole? Maybe they got tired of your bullshit". My words were raspy but clear enough to put a scowl on the face of the grizzled man hovering over me.

"Shut the fuck up", he spat, spraying warm saliva on my blood-crusted face and stepping closer to my weak form.

I rolled my head back around to shoot the man a sarcastic squint. "I thought you wanted me to talk, man. You remember, tell you where The Murphy is...", I mocked. "Is this your first time doing this?"

Wrong answer. His fist made contact with my already bruised and busted cheek and my teeth split the inside of my mouth open in a new place. Bursts of light sparked across my vision and I coughed to cover up a groan.

"This ain't a game! Tell us where The Murphy is, and stop wasting our time," he drew a revolver from the back of his muddy jeans and pointed it at my chest, "or I'll just shoot you and let you turn."

I worked up a mouthful of blood and spat it in his face, watching it work its way into his graying beard and mingle with his sweat. He grit his teeth with an audible squeak and cocked the gun. For the first time in the three days I'd been tied up in that place, real fear bloomed in my chest and I worked to push it back down. 

He can't see my fear, or he'll know he has real ammunition against me.

As I worked to slow my heart rate, the door busted open behind the man and he swung around, gun pointed at the new potential threat. Before he could pull the trigger, his head exploded with shards of skull and blood and warm bits of brain matter that spattered me. I flinched away from the sensation, shuddering.

"Oh, gross," I groaned, turning my head back around to see my saviors.

Warren, 10k, and Addy stood in the doorway. 10k's rifle was still pointed into the room and he lowered it slowly after seeing the only threat had been mercied.

A relieved laugh bubbled its way up through my chest and my eyes slipped shut before squinting back open. I slumped in the chair. "Took you guys long enough."

Smiles fixed to their faces, they hurried over to untie me and help me out of the chair.

"You're a pain in the ass to find, girlfriend," Warren laughed.

"Sorry about that. I didn't tell them anything, in case you were wondering. They don't know where we hid Murphy."

"I'm glad," she muttered back, "It's good to see you're still alive too."

"They're all mercied, anyway. We think, at least," Addy added in.

I nodded and mumbled my thanks as 10k and Addy each slung one of my arms around their shoulders. Then, we slowly made our way back to our camp.


End file.
